Memory Alpha:AOL chats/Ronald D. Moore/trekron.txt
LIVE CHAT With Mr. Ronald D. Moore, Tuesday, November 11th, 1997 7PM PST (10PM EST) *** **ADMIRAL ON DECK** I'd like to welcome Mr. Ronald D. Moore to TrekWeb.COM! Thanks for joining us tonight! Okay. Ron, thanks for joining us! Thanks Ron for taking the time to talk to us peons. It's my pleasure. Are there any comments you'd like to make before beginning with questions? We've just begun shooting episode 13, so we're halfway through the season. How time flies...* indeed! I suppose that means you've completed the much anticipated "Statistical Probabilites"? Yes. That was episode 9, directed by Anson Williams, who some of you may remember from Happy Days (Potsie) -- try to bend your mind around that one...* Perhaps it is not appropriate for us to ask (would not be the first time..), but what is episode 13 titled? Episode 13 is entitled "One Little Ship." * Well, shall we start with the questions? Sure.* Let me start it off... I have thought that it would've been very courageous on the part of the writers to make the Dominion get reinforcements, even conquer Earth, sending the Federation into space in a rag-tag fashion. This arc could've continued for at least an entire season. Did this extreme ever come into your mind? Is it true that the studio pressured for the recapture of the station in order to promote its preferred autonomy of each episode for We never considered having Earth conquerored, but we did press the studio for the longest continuing arc possible. They would only go for six episodes, but to be fair, we felt that was enough and were happy to have six shows off the station. The Dominion War will still continue, however, throughout the rest of the season. Ahh, interesting From Timothy Dussinger: One of my absolute favorite parts, perhaps of the last few seasons was when Sisko told Admiral Ross about building a house on Bajor. What an outstanding character development! I was wondering who wrote that in, and how will you deal with Bajor's reaction to the Emissary's return to DS9 and keeping Bajor safe throughout the war? Also, I was wondering if with Sisko's interest in Bajoran texts, is it possible that he, despite bein I seem to be getting other questions and comments from some of you, but I'd appreciate it if all the questions went through Steve. Thanks.* Sisko's desire to build a home on Bajor was something we'd been talking about within the writing staff for quite some time. It was actually inserted into 'Favor the Bold' at the last minute, as an additional scene when we realized that the episode was running short and needed more material.* Next question?* From V.Wes: I was sad to see Tain die. I was hoping to see more of his relationship with Garak. Is it possible to do a flashback episode ala Necessary Evil/Thing's Past with Garak and Tain and life in the Obsidian Order? It's possible we'll see Tain (or a flashback vision of Tain or something) but at the moment, we have no plans to reprise the character. From Jason Davidson: Why was Worf's house referred to as the 'House of Mogh' well past his father's death and after Worf became the head of it when his Klingon peers Martok and Duras (not to mention many others) have had their houses named after them even though they were still alive? We've never explored the hows and whys regarding the naming of Klingon Houses. The House of Mogh reference was probably something that Worf carried on out of respect for his deceased father. This might be the right of a son -- to perpetuate a single name for the House instead of supplanting it with his own.* From Mike Wright: I think I can speak for everyone when I say, "THANK GOD FOR THE DEFIANT!" Along with the other great elements of Deep Space Nine, which people absolutely adore, how does it feel to be a co-creator of such a successful show? Writing and producing DS9 is an absolute joy. While I thoroughly enjoyed my tenure on TNG (and learned a lot in the process) I'm finding that I love DS9 even more. It's simply a more interesting show to write for, (to me) and I feel like it allows me to push myself in a way that TNG never did. I'll miss this one when it's gone.* from The Mexico City Star Trek Fan Club: How do you manage to give us such intense character shows without being labeled as soap-opera-ish? We love the character development, but when we talk about it with newbies, they always tend to say that it sounds like a soap opera. Soap vs. Character is kind of a phony argument. People who like action-oriented shows and dislike character studies tend to label those kinds of stories as "soap opera". But the truth is that continuity and character are what make DS9 special within the Trek lexicon and if people want to label as soap, that's fine with me. From MacGyver: Why doesn't the Federation protect DS9 better? It is the most valuable thing in the alpha quadrant. You would think they would station more ships near it, say 50? Space is Big. The War is Big. We assume that Starfleet has many committments in many places and can't be everywhere at once. There's probably a fleet stationed not too far away from Bajor at this point.* From Curzon: How are our changelings on Earth doing? We were just talking about them today. We'll be mentioning them in the not too distant future.* From Michael Lyons: In the episode "Sons and Daughters", why did Alexander enlist in the first place? The episode came close to an explanation several times but I (and maybe I missed something) never understood what he was doing there. It seemed to me to go against the character established so meticulously in TNG. The idea was that Alexander joined in order to prove something to his father. Worf abandoned him because Alexander didn't want to be a warrior, so Alexander found the one way to get his attention again -- be a warrior.* From John Devins: Ron, can you give us any titles past "Waltz," or if there'll be any more two-parters this year? What can you tell us about "The Magnificent Ferengi"? After "Waltz" comes "Who Mourns for Morn?" and "One Little Ship" (the title for the next two haven't been firmed up yet). "Magnificent Ferengi" unites six of our Ferengi characters together as they join forces on a vital mission. It should be a scream.* From Ometiklan: Will there be any more episodes specifically regarding the Jem'Hadar? I love the Dominion and don't want to see them leave! We will definitely be doing more with the Jem'Hadar and the Dominion this year as the War continues.* From Capt. Andrew: Whose idea was it to have Dukat gone crazy after Ziyal's death? And how will you (and the rest of the writing staff) deal with this character now? Now that this has happened, I think I will miss the Dukat/Weyon interactions; they are so funny when they are together. It was Ira Behr's idea to have Dukat go crazy at the conclusion of "Sacrifice". Show number 11 -- "Waltz" -- will deal with the aftermath of this development on Dukat.* Sean Nisbet asks: Will the mine field go up again??? Or are we just going to let more ships come through??? The Prophets just wiped out a few thousand J'H ships? You think they're going to try again anytime soon?* from Berserker: Will the changeling claim that "Cardassia is dead" be fulfilled? Quark had some good dramatic work in the war arc. Will he have future dramatic episodes? The fate of Cardassia may or may not be as dire as the Female Shapeshifter predicted (how's that for vague!) Quark will have both comedic and dramatic work this year.* from THE_BREEN I know that you're a big Klingon writer, but don't you feel that the Klingons are looming on the threshold of overuse? I know that new aspects are added every single episode, but aren't the fans beginning to know so much about the Klingons that they've lost their "bite"? I see my dog Binks has joined us... he's probably chewing up my keyboard at home... I don't feel that the Klingons have run their course yet. I know they're not everyone's favorite race, but I still find them to be a fascinating culture and I'd still like to tell more stories involving them.* 16. from Steve Zagar: Do you have any plans as to what penance Sisko must pay the Prophets after their timely interference in the Dominion war? We do have plans for Sisko's pennace.* 17. from Steve Krutzler Many of us feel that DS9's cast is much more developed than TNG's. I would venture to say that DS9 at this point, has MANY more (perhaps TWO � more seasons worth) story possibilities than TNG did at the same point. This having been established, how do you feel about the lack of attention DS9 gets from the studio (promotion-wise) and about the potential for DS9 movies? We've always felt like DS9 was the forgotten middle child of the Trek family and we've never liked that feeling. But at this point, there's nothing we can do about it and we've learned to live with it. I have no idea if they're planning any DS9 movies -- at this point I doubt it.* From Emony Dax: I was wondering if there would be a possible Jem'Hadar or Vorta revolt from the Dominion in the future? That's always possible.* From Tom Buck: Ron, have you ever toyed with the idea of having a current day baseball superstar as a guest on the show? I'd love to see someone like Ken Griffey Jr playing with Sisko in the holosuite. There's got to be a Trek fan in the Major Leagues who'd willingly do a cameo.... This idea has come up several times over the years, but we haven't jumped on it yet. Still possible...* From Prime: Ron, when did the Writing staff decide to conclude 'Sacrifice of Angels' with the intervention of the Worm hole aliens? Please pass the word on to the special effects guy's for giving the fans the best Space Battle ever seen on television! The War arc was simply the best DS9 to date, I look forward to what you and the writing staff have in store for us next! The intervention of the Prophets was discussed at length by the entire staff many times before we worked it out during the break session (outlining session) of "Sacrifice". * from Brian the Snorf: Mr. Moore, how do you respond to people who think that the end of "Sacrifice of Angels" was little more than almost literal deus ex machina? Was it, or do you have more plans concerning the Prophets and the "game" involving Sisko? We felt that the Prophets' intervention made sense in the overall context of the series. After all, the pilot introduced Sisko to the Prophets and his journey from a man who didn't believe in them to a man asking them to behave like gods was a story that has always felt important to the series. The actions in "Sacrifice" were not just dumped in at the last moment, but flowed organically from what has gone before. * Berserker asks: Any chance we'll see the Prophets and Founders square off in a deity free for all? Possibly.* I have time for two more questions...* from freddy22: Are the parallels between Sisko and Moses accidental? Ah... parting of the Red Sea... hmm... that's nice I'd say the story of Moses was definitely one of the inspirations for what has happened and for what will happen to Sisko.* From V.Wes: During The Die is Cast, members of the Obsidian Order and Tal'Shiar were captured by the Dominion. However many Cardassians were released in By Inferno's Light. Were these Cardassians part of the Obsidian Order? And if so, will the Order someday be revived? Presumably, the Cardassians captured in "Die is Cast" were all Obsidian Order types. The Order may yet rise again. Okay, one last question, then I really have to go.* from |Dukat|: Will the Dominion's problem of white supply come out later... And if they need it so much, why did they abandon the station so fast? I mean, they still have ships around the station and a gigantesque fleet... The Dominion has presumably begun creating a new supply of White. And the Dominion suffered a huge setback in the battle with Sisko's fleet, which then forced the Dominion to fall back into Cardassian space.* I'd like to thank Ron Moore, one of our most favorite Trek writers, for being the first to join us here at TrekWeb.COM for a LIVE CHAT! I hope you've enjoyed your experience here at TrekWeb. I believe I speak for everyone when I say that I hope you'll join us again sometime! was booted off the chat server... ATTENTION! Just talked to Ron personally on the phone! He said that he was knocked off by accident and wanted everyone to know that he enjoyed the chat, and thanks you all! Hopefully, we'll see him here again sometime! Moore, Ronald D.